DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER LIBRARY ABILENE, KANSAS
BROWNELL, HERBERT JR.: Additional papers, 1897-1996
Accession 96-18 Processed by: TB Date Completed: January 2001
The additional papers of Herbert Brownell were deposited in the Eisenhower Library by Mr. Brownell’s family in June 1996.
Linear feet of shelf space occupied: 13.6 Approximate number of pages: 27,200 Approximate number of items: 15,000
An instrument of gift for these papers was signed by Mr. Brownell in June 1988. Literary rights in the unpublished writings of Mr. Brownell in this collection and in all other collections of papers received by the United States have been donated to the public. Under terms of the instrument of gift the following classes of documents are withheld from research use:
1. Papers which constitute an invasion of personal privacy or a libel of a living person.
2. Papers which are required to be kept secret in the interest of national defense or foreign policy and are properly classified. SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE
Herbert Brownell Jr. sent the bulk of his personal papers to the Eisenhower Library in 1988 and 1989 when he was preparing to retire from active law practice. The initial shipment was opened to research in April 1992. This accretion to the collection was received from Brownell’s family after his death in 1996. It consists of his subject and correspondence files covering the last eight years of his life. There are also several files of earlier material that Brownell had not included in the initial shipment.
The accretion has been organized into five series, following the same general arrangement scheme as the main Brownell collection. The first series contains Brownell’s general correspondence with his friends and the general public, covering 1988 to 1996. Of particular importance in this series is Brownell’s correspondence with historians who interviewed him about his work in politics and the Eisenhower administration.
The second series contains Brownell’s correspondence with his family. Most of the material consists of his correspondence with his siblings covering 1988 to 1996, and some correspondence relating to his wife Doris Brownell. There is also a large file of papers compiled by his brother Samuel M. Brownell concerning the administration of the estate of their mother May Miller Brownell. Samuel had served as executor of the estate following Mrs. Brownell’s death in 1959, and later gave his file to Herbert. The rest of the items are mostly old family papers, such as news clippings and genealogical information that Brownell had inherited from his parents and grandparents.
The third series contains Brownell’s correspondence with his close personal friends, including Warren Burger, John Lindsay and J. Lee Rankin. It also includes his files on activities related to Dwight D. Eisenhower, including the work of the Eisenhower Library, the Eisenhower World Affairs Institute, and the 1990 Eisenhower Centennial.
The fourth series relates to various organizations in which Brownell was active. This includes his file on the Bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution. In 1985 Brownell was appointed to the national commission established to celebrate the bicentennial. The file includes the minutes of the commission meetings and publicity material produced by the commission. The series also includes information on the history of Brownell’s law firm Lord Day & Lord, and the work of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research.
The fifth series is a general subject file containing material on Brownell’s personal activities. This includes information on his trips, his health problems, his book Advising Ike, his interest in U.S. relations with China, and the sale of his apartment.
The fifth series also contains Brownell’s correspondence with Miss Dori Dressander, an attorney who was writing a book on civil rights during the Eisenhower administration. This material is especially important because it explains the puzzling absence of any files on civil rights in the main body of Brownell’s papers.
The correspondence shows that Brownell had, in the late 1970s, given all his files on civil rights to Miss Dressander to assist her with her work. The Eisenhower Library made an effort to contact Miss Dressander to see if she still had the material. It was learned that she had died in Washington, DC, in June 1999 before completing her book. All her research files had been stored in her apartment. After her death her landlord, not realizing the significance of her work, cleaned out her apartment and all her files were hauled to the dump.
Due to this tragedy Brownell’s original files concerning civil rights during his service as Attorney General no longer exist. However, in 1983 Miss Dressander had sent Brownell a rough draft of portions of her book. Dressander’s citations show she relied mostly on documents she obtained from the Department of Justice through the Freedom of Information Act, and on interviews with Brownell and his colleagues.
Brownell appears to have saved relatively little documentary material on civil rights. The only original Brownell document definitely known to have been lost was his 1957 appointment book. Fortunately, Miss Dressander had transcribed the entries covering Brownell’s activities around the time of the Little Rock crisis. A copy of this transcript is in the file.
Researchers will find little documentation in the Brownell papers that relates to his role in civil rights matters. Brownell maintained in his personal files only a modest amount of civil rights material and that, unfortunately, was lost to history. In the late 1970’s, Brownell loaned his small file of civil rights-related material to a researcher. The materials were not returned to Brownell before either his death or the death of the scholar, and the file was inadvertently destroyed before it could be obtained by Brownell’s heirs for deposit in the Eisenhower Library. CHRONOLOGY
Feb. 20, 1904 Born in Peru, Nebraska
1924 Graduated from University of Nebraska
1927 Graduated from Yale Law School
1927-1929 Law clerk with firm of Root, Clark, Buckner, Howland & Ballantine in New York City
Feb. 1, 1929 Joined law firm of Lord Day & Lord in New York City
1933-1937 Member of New York State Assembly
June 16, 1934 Married Doris McCarter (died June 12, 1979)
1942 Managed Thomas E. Dewey’s campaign for governor of New York
1944 Managed Thomas E. Dewey’s presidential campaign
1944-1946 Chairman, Republican National Committee
1948 Managed Thomas E. Dewey’s presidential campaign
1952 Assisted with Dwight D. Eisenhower’s presidential campaign
1953-1957 Attorney General of the United States
1962-1963 President, City Bar Association of New York
1972-1974 Special ambassador for negotiating Colorado River salinity problem with Mexico
1975-1977 Chairman, National Study Commission on Records and Documents of Federal Officials
1977-1989 Associate of law firm of Lord Day & Lord in New York City
1985-1989 Member, Commission for the Bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution
December 1987 Married Mrs. Marion “Riki” Taylor (separated December 1989)
May 1, 1996 Died in New York City SERIES DESCRIPTION
Box No. Series
1-12 I. General Correspondence. 12 boxes. Herbert Brownell’s personal correspondence with his friends and the general public, covering the years 1988-1996; arranged in alphabetical order by name of correspondent.
13-15 II. Family Correspondence. 3 boxes. Files on the administration of the estate of Brownell’s mother, correspondence with Brownell’s wife and siblings, and old family papers Brownell inherited from his parents and grandparents.
16-18 III. Special Name Correspondence. 2½ boxes Correspondence with important people and close personal friends, arranged alphabetically.
18-22 IV. Organizations. 4½ boxes. Correspondence, memoranda, reports and printed material concerning boards, committees, companies, institutions and other organizations in which Brownell was active. Arranged alphabetically by name of organization.
23-34 V. Subject. 12 boxes. Correspondence, memoranda, reports and printed material relating to Brownell’s personal affairs, arranged alphabetically by subject. Container List
Box No. Contents
1 A (1)-(3) [Burr Anderson interview re 1939 World’s Fair]
Ba
Be
Bl (1)(2) [Meenekshi Bose interview re DDE’s advisors, Cabinet appointments, 1952 Korea trip, NSC & Cabinet meetings, Project Solarium]
Br (1)-(3) [Robert Brown re 1954 meeting with DDE re prosecuting newspapers for publishing leaks]
Bu (1)(2) [David Burnham interview re political interference in Justice Dept, law enforcement, loyalty-security issues, FBI wiretaps, anti-trust and AT&T breakup; Hugh Butt interview re origins of Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research]
Ca (1)(2) [John Castles re Lord Day & Lord pensions]
2 Ch (1)(2) [Arthur Christy re 1957 dispute with FBI over agents in court]
Cl [Russell Clemings re Colorado River salinity]
Co (1)-(6) [George Colburn interview re appointment as Attorney General, 1952 trip to Korea, Earl Warren appointment to Supreme Court, Brown vs Board of Education, Little Rock Crisis, Joe McCarthy; Eisenhower Library Civil Rights Conference; Colorado River salinity reports; Mary “Bibi” Conrad re investing in Eastern Europe; Brownell article re presidential disability and 25th Amendment]
Cr (1)-(3) [Ed Cray interview re Earl Warren]
3 Cu [Scott Cunningham re Army chemical experiments on civilians]
Da
DeMenil, Dominique (1)-(6) [art museum in Houston, Texas; recovery of art looted from Cyprus]
Di (1)(2) [Dia Center for the Arts]
Do (1)(2)
4 Dr (1)(2) [John Foster Dulles]
E (1)-(3) [Richard Ellis re civil rights legislation; Eyes on the Prize interview re civil rights]
Fa [Griffin Fariello interview re Red Scare; C. Sims Farr re history of White & Case law firm]
Fe
Fo
Fr
Ga (1)-(3) [to Richard Gentile re Christian Herter; Arthur George re GOP rules about blacks]
Gi
5 Go (1)(2) [John Gorden re D.K. Ludwig’s business affairs]
Gr (1)(2) [Leslie Gray re 1952 convention, Nevada politics; Fred Greenstein re Brownell’s memoirs]
Ha (1)-(3) [interview re James Hagerty and Little Rock; Jeffery Handelman re Judge Henry Friendly; Milton Handler; Ashton Hawkins and Dia center for the Arts]
He (1)-(3)
Ho (1)(2) [Linda Hunt interview re 1948 campaign]
Hopps, Walter (1)(2) [art museum curator, re finding buyer for Goya painting]
6 Hoxie, R. Gordon (1)-(6) [Center for the Study of the Presidency; HB comments on proposed article re Supreme Court appointments; proposed article re Adlai Stevenson's speeches; proposed article re Ronald Reagan and presidential disability; HB article re civil rights; book review re Supreme Court appointments] I J (1)(2) [William Barr re Congressional subpoena of Justice Department records; Brownell speech re 200th anniversary of Office of Attorney General, 1990; Pardon Attorney re commutation of military death sentences]
Ka (1)(2) [Bret Kincaid re Bricker amendment]
Ko (1) [200th anniversary of George Washington’s inauguration in New York City, 1989]
7 Ko (2)(3) [Theodore Kovaleff re antitrust; Victor Kramer re DDE’s changes in Brown vs Board of Education legal brief; Thomas Kuchel re Stanley Barnes]
La (1)-(5) [Robyn Ladino re school integration at Mansfield, Texas; Mrs Justus Baldwin Lawrence]
Le (1)(2) [Dr J. Burton Lee re presidential disability; Emil Levendoglu re Earl Warren appointment to Supreme Court]
Li
Lo
Ma (1)-(3) [George MacKinnon re Panama Canal Treaty; Gen. George Marshall’s 1944 letter to Thomas Dewey re Japanese code breaking; to George Martin re service in NY Assembly; Michael Mayer re Simon Sobeloff, civil rights]
8 Mc (1)-(3) [Priscilla McMillan re Oppenheimer case]
Me (1)-(5) [Hank Meijer re Artnur Vandenberg; Martin Merson re Pearl Harbor; Metropolitan Museum of Art interview re Brownell’s work for the museum, dispute re Turkish artifacts]
Mi (1)-(5) [Miller Center of Public Affairs, University of Virginia, re selection of judges, vice presidents, 1944 & 1948 campaigns, 25th Amendment]
9 Mo (1)(2) [Jane Moffat re John Jay farm]
N (1)-(4) [University of Nebraska; United Methodist Church in New York City; Nisi Prius Club; Richard Nixon]
O [to Roger Oresman re Fiorello LaGuardia]
Pa (1)(2) [Donald Park re Ludwig Institute budget; Deedee Paschal re John Jay farm; Peru State College]
Po (1)(2) [Mary Helm Pollack re Brownell family; Douyglas Price re Feb 1967 meeting with DDE re Clark Kerr, Earl Warren, Jacqueline Cochran & Curtis LeMay]
Q
Ra (1)-(3) [David Randolph re Brownell’s career; Roy Hood re Orval Faubus and Little Rock; Brownell speech re crime victims] 10 Ro [William Rogers; evaluation of judicial nominees by bar associations]
Ru (1)-(3) [David Rudenstine interview re New York Times and Pentagon Papers; Jane Rylands re Ezra Pound papers]
Sa (1)(2)
Sh (1)(2) [Bernard Shanley draft article re DDE and Harry Truman, Dr Von Neumann and missiles; Willie Burton re desegregation in Louisiana; Brownell speech re desegregation]
Si (1)-(3) [Rocco Siciliano; speech to Supreme Court Historical Society re desegregation; Sloane family]
11 Sm (1)(2) [to Richard Norton Smith re Col. Robert McCormick, Dwight Green & 1948 campaign; to Mrs William French Smith re 1944 campaign]
St (1)-(4) [Thomas Stephens; Mark Stern comparing DDE & JFK actions re desegregation; Brownell speech re civil rights, 25th Amendment]
Ta (1)(2) [Doris Brownell scholarship at Texas Women’s University; Dick Thornburgh]
To (1)(2) [Anthony Troncone interview re Harry Dexter White; Tulane Law Review article re civil rights; Harold Tyler re ABA role in judicial selection]
U
V (1)(2) [Richard Valelly re voting rights]
12 Wa (1)-(5) [Lawrence Walsh re Iran-Contra prosecutions; Brownell speech re 1952 campaign; Abbott Washburn; Denton Watson re 1955 NAACP meeting with Brownell]
We [WGBH interview re McCarthy, civil rights]
Wellin, Nancy B.
Wellin, Nancy B. – Brown Foundation (1)-(3) [French art school; support for the arts in Houston, Texas]
Wi (1)(2) [Malcolm Wilkey re Col. Abel, Little Rock, 25th Amendment; John Minor Wisdom]
Wo
X,Y,Z 13 Series II: Family Correspondence
Herbert Brownell Sr Diaries Miscellaneous [pocket notebook containing financial data, 1908-36]
May Miller Brownell – Estate (1)-(10) [files of Samuel Brownell re administration of his mother’s estate, 1959-63]
14 May Miller Brownell – European Trip 1932 (1)(2)
Brothers and Sisters 1988
Brothers and Sisters 1989-90 (1)-(3)
Brothers and Sisters 1991-92
Brothers and Sisters 1993-96
Brothers and Sisters Miscellaneous
Wife – Doris Brownell
Wife – Doris Brownell - Guest Lists (1)(2)
15 Wife – Doris Brownell – Letters (1)(2) [history of Clan Munroe, Scotland]
Wife – Doris Brownell – Passports
Wife – Doris Brownell – Sympathy Acknowledgment Letters (1)-(3)
Grandparents and Other Relatives (1)-(3) [Brownell genealogy; list of houses where Herbert Brownell lived]
Grandparents and Other Relatives – Barton Family (1)(2)
Grandparents and Other Relatives – Miller Family (1)(2)
Grandparents and Other Relatives – Scrapbooks
16 Series III: Special Name Correspondence
Warren E. Burger (1)-(4)
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1)-(10) [Eisenhower centennial, 1990; Brownell speech re civil rights; Eisenhower World Affairs Institute]
17 Eisenhower Library 1977-85
Eisenhower Library 1987 [speech re constitutional issues]
Eisenhower Library 1988-90 (1)-(3)
Eisenhower Library 1991-95 (1)-(3) [speech re DDE as political leader]
Eisenhower Library – Civil Rights Conference 1990 (1)-(3)
Eisenhower Library – List of Holdings 1984
Eisenhower Library – List of Holdings 1989
18 John V. Lindsay Correspondence 1989-95 [Murray Richtel re Rosenberg case]
D.K. Ludwig (1)-(4)
J. Lee Rankin
Series IV: Organizations
Bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution (1)-(7) [minutes of commission, 1985-88]
Bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution (8) [speeches & articles]
19 Bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution (9)-(14) [speeches, articles, publicity, reference material re constitution]
Bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution (15)(16) [bicentennial of George Washington’s inauguration, April 1989]
Century Association 1989-95
Christ Church (1)-(4)
20 Christ Church (5)(6)
City Bar Association of New York 1989-93 (1)-(5) [role of bar associations in evaluation of judicial candidates]
CBA – Arps Lecture Dec. 2, 1993 (1)(2) [legal ethics; regulation of legal practices]
CBA – 125th Anniversary 1995 (1)-(3)
Committee for the Single Six-Year Presidential Term (1)-(3)
21 Committee for the Single Six-Year Presidential Term (4)-(6)
Delta Upsilon Educational Foundation
Delta Upsilon Fraternity 1988-95
Lord Day & Lord (1)-(4)
Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research (1)-(5)
22 Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research (6)-(10)
Pilgrims of the U.S.
Supreme Court Historical Society [speech re Brown vs Board of Education]
Warren Burger Law Library (1)-(4)
Yale University (1)(2) [speech re Brownell’s student days at Yale]
23 Series V: Subject
Appointment Book 1989
Appointment Book – Pocket Size 1989, 1990
Appointment Book – Pocket Size 1991, 1992
Appointment Book – Pocket Size 1993, 1994
Appointment Calendar 1981
Appointment Calendar 1987
Awards (1)-(3)
Awards – Appeal of Conscience Dinner 1969 [religion in Rumania, Czechoslovakia & Spain]
Awards – Learned Hand Medal 1969 [speech re Electoral College]
Awards – Legal Aid Society 1969
Awards – NY State Bar Assn. Gold Medal 1972
24 Civil Rights Book – 1957 Brownell Schedule [abstract of Brownell’s 1957 appointment book covering Aug 30-Nov 8]
Civil Rights Book – Draft Chapter I (1)(2) [role of civil rights in 1952 campaign]
Civil Rights Book – Draft Chapter II [DDE’s leadership style; role of White House staff]
Civil Rights Book – Draft Chapter III (1)-(4) [organization of Justice Dept; selection of key officials; judicial appointments; implementing civil rights policy; FBI; loyalty-security cases]
Civil Rights Book – Draft Chapter IV (1)-(3) [Brown vs Board of Education]
Civil Rights Book – Draft Chapter V (1)(2) [1957 Civil Rights Bill]
Civil Rights Book – Draft Chapter VI (1)(2) [Little Rock Crisis]
Civil Rights Book – Draft Chapter VII [Baker vs Carr; Brownell’s interest in civil rights after leaving Justice Dept]
25 Civil Rights Book – Interviews [abstracts of oral history interviews with Brownell & William O. Douglas]
Civil Rights Book – Letters 1977-82 (1)-(5) [search for research grants]
Civil Rights Book – Letters 1982-90 (1)-(4) [accuracy of Elbert Tuttle's interview re 1952 convention; FOIA request for Justice Dept documents]
1981 Illness – Cards & Letters (1)(2)
26 1981 Illness – Cards & Letters (3)(4)
Memoirs (1)-(4) [congratulatory letters; Edwin Griswold; search for a publisher]
Memoirs – John Burke (1)-(6) [political scientist at University of Vermont who helped Brownell with his memoirs]
27 Memoirs – Comments on Drafts
Memoirs – Photographs (1)(2)
Memoirs – Reference Material – Articles (1)-(11) [articles collected by Brownell, mostly re politics and civil rights]
Memoirs – Reference Material – Warren Burger Oral History [1975 interview by Bancroft Library]
28 Memoirs – Reference Material – City Bar Association Study (1)-(3) [1966 report re civil rights legislation, equitable relief, habeas corpus]
Memoirs – Reference Material – Civil Rights Bill Legislative History (1)-(3)
Memoirs – Reference Material – Clippings (1)-(3)
Memoirs – Reference Material – Congressional Hearings (1)(2)
Memoirs – Reference Material – Cuba Memo 1961 [Justice Dept report on presidential authority to blockade Cuba]
29 Memoirs – Reference Material – Documents from Archives (1)-(6) [copies of documents from Truman, Nixon & Eisenhower papers]
Memoirs – Reference Material – FBI Cointelpro [refutation of claims that Brownell authorized FBI wiretaps]
Memoirs – Reference Material – Alger Hiss & Harry Dexter White Cases (1)-(3) [1985 Nixon speech re Hiss]
Memoirs – Reference Material – Miscellaneous Documents (1)-(4)
30 Memoirs – Reference Material – RNC Literature on Civil Rights 1948
Memoirs – Reference Material – Supreme Court Cases (1)-(4)
Memoirs – Reviews (1)(2)
Memoirs – University Press of Kansas (1)-(6)
31 Memoirs – University Press of Kansas – Computer Disk #1 (1)-(3) [final draft of chapters 1-6]
Memoirs – University Press of Kansas – Computer Disk #2 (1)-(3) [chapters 7-12]
Memoirs – University Press of Kansas – Computer Disk #3 (1)-(3) [chapters 13-20]
Memoirs – University Press of Kansas – Computer disk #4 [appendicies]
Oral History – Cary Reich [interview re Nelson Rockefeller]
Personal – Passports (1)(2)
32 Personal – Physical Record (1)-(4)
Personal – Vital Documents [birth certificate; social security card]
Sale of Apartment at 635 Park Avenue (1)-(5)
Sale of Apartment at 635 Park Avenue – Closing Papers (1)(2)
Speeches, Book Reviews, Articles (1)-(3)
33 Speeches, Book Reviews, Articles (4)
Taiwan Treaty (1)-(7) [1979 dispute over whether US could rescind treaty with Taiwan in order to recognize Red China]
Trips
Trips – La Quinta Hotel 1960
Trips – Lake Placid Club 1960-68
Trips – International Bar Association, Edinburgh 1962 (1)-(3)
Trips – Charlottesville, Va. 1964
Trips – European Vacation 1966
34 Trips – Far East 1967 (1)(2)
Trips – Acapulco Oct. 1968
Trips – Europe Jan. 1970
Trips – London July 1970
Trips – Far East with George R. Brown Sept. 1971 (1)(2)
Trips – Sterling Forest Dec 1971
Trips – Mexico 1972
Trips – Rome July 1972
Trips – Europe April-May 1973
Trips – Buck Hill Inn Thanksgiving 1974
Trips – 1975-76
Trips – Europe Aug.-Sept. 1977
Trips – California-Mexico Feb. 1978
Trips – 1979-84
Trips – California & Europe 1979
Trips – Egypt Feb.-March 1984 (1)(2)
Trips – 1985-92
25th Amendment (1)(2) [speeches & articles re presidential disability]
END OF CONTAINER LIST